METRO VANCOUVER -- The provincial government announced today it will build a $2.46 billion 10-lane bridge to replace the aging Port Mann Bridge.

The bridge, which will be built to accommodate rapid bus service and future rapid transit, will be financed by tolls over the 40-year tenure of the contract.

Commuters will pay $3 each way to access the new bridge, although there will be concessions for truckers, bus and taxi drivers, Transport Minister Kevin Falcon said.

The bridge is expected to be built by 2013.

The province had originally planned to twin the Port Mann, but said it would be cheaper to build a new bridge and save on maintenance costs.

The project also includes widening Highway 1, adding two lanes each way on the east side of the bridge and an extra lane in both directions on the west side.

Premier Gordon Campbell said the new bridge over the Fraser River will create 800 jobs and cut commuting time by one-third.

"A single span will clear the bottlenecks that have plagued commuters for years and years," he said.

Falcon said new infrastructure is needed to accommodate another million more people in Metro Vancouver in 20 years.

The capital cost of the project, including upgrades to 37 km of Highway 1 on either side of the bridge, is approximately $2.46 billion, the province said. The total cost, including operating and maintenance, rehabilitation and interest, will be released when the contract is finalized but is expected to be approximately $3.3 billion.

Of that, the province is financing $1.15 billion in the form of a repayable loan, which is beingmatched by bank financing. The proponent is putting forward their own equity to pay for the remaining $1 billion, the release said.

NDP MLA Bruce Ralston said the deal to build a new bridge - at a higher cost - was made after plans were announced to twin the bridge.

"It seems this was negotiated after the contract was awarded," he said, adding other bidders weren't offered the same opportunity.

The existing arch looks way better than the cable-stayed new design. Seriously, I'm getting tired of those. They were cool back in the 80s, and they still can be if they are given an interesting design (like the Zakim Bridge in Boston). But most of the attempts are just boring.

Nobody builds arch bridges anymore, even though they are jaw-droppingly beautiful. The only recent one I've seen is the Hoover Dam Bypass outside Vegas.

The existing arch looks way better than the cable-stayed new design. Seriously, I'm getting tired of those. They were cool back in the 80s, and they still can be if they are given an interesting design (like the Zakim Bridge in Boston). But most of the attempts are just boring.

Vancouver is a heavily active seismic zone, they didn't pick which bridge to build based on aesthetics or the latest bridge building fads...

This is common for major highway bridges today... the central lanes are for through traffic, while the outer lanes are for regional traffic. It also allows for greater flexibility with road maintenance or major accidents, where all traffic does not have to shut down.